1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a weightlifting aid and a method of weightlifting, with particular reference to bench pressing and other weightlifting movements performed from a recumbent position.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, to perform a bench press, a person lies in a recumbent position on a bench that is parallel or angled to the ground, grasps a barbell that is positioned on a rack above the person's head, lowers the barbell until it touches the person's chest, and then lifts the barbell to a position that is over the person's chest with the person's arms essentially fully extended. It is known that, for a variety of reasons, it can be desirable to initiate a bench press exercise from a range of starting positions higher than the user's chest. For instance, raising the starting position allows the user to perform a bench press exercise with heavier weights. To this end, a number of stackable wooden boards are commonly placed on a weightlifter's chest so that the minimum position of the barbell is at a desired distance from the weightlifter's chest. This practice requires at least one other person (commonly known as a “spotter”) to be present to hold on to the boards.
In the prior art, a number of devices and/or methods have been proposed to allow the weightlifter to initiate a bench press from a range of starting positions without the need for a spotter—see for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,224,518, 5,433,686, and 5,897,468. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,518 describes a method for reducing shoulder injury during the performance of a bench press exercise. The method entails the use of a cylindrical pad adapted to be coupled to a barbell substantially over the chest of a user, and having sufficient thickness to prevent a user performing a bench-press-type exercise from lowering his or her upper arms below a horizontal plane defined by the user's back. This method and device have the sole purpose and function of ensuring that a user performing a bench press lowers the barbell to the point where the upper arms descend to the horizontal plane defined by the back of the user. The thickness of the cylindrical pad is fixed and cannot be adjusted. Thus, the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,518 does not allow the user to initiate a bench press from a range of starting positions. This is a significant limitation, as raising the height of the starting position for a bench press allows the user to perform the movement with heavier weights.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 describes a training aid which is intended to reduce the risk of injury to the arm and shoulder of a user and provide assistance to a user who is attempting to lift a somewhat increased weight. The training aid disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 comprises a harness having a pair of relatively small spaced apart pockets. A plurality of spacers can be stored in each pocket to an overall height of up to about 4 cm in order to prevent the barbell from touching the chest of the user, thereby rendering the weightlifting exercise easier. Another embodiment is proposed in which a single pair of spaced apart spacers are attached to the training aid using a hook and loop fastener material.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 20120165163 A1 describes a weightlifting aid having a harness for attaching the aid to the chest area of the user; a base region in connection with the harness; and a plurality of interconnectable board elements; in which at least one board element is also connectable to the base region, so as to form a stack of board elements on top of the user's chest, the stack being of adjustable height depending on the number of barbell supporting boards used to form the stack. Thus, the user may initiate a bench press from a range of starting positions by adding to or subtracting from the number of board elements stacked on the user's chest.
The weightlifting aid described in U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120165163 A1 is highly impractical and potentially unsafe for several reasons. First, a user wishing to initiate a bench press from a range of starting positions is required to engage in a cumbersome and time consuming process of adding and removing boards from a stack of boards strapped to the user's chest. The fact that the user must remain lying on his or her back (to prevent the stack from falling over) while adding or removing boards further compounds the cumbersome and potentially dangerous nature of this aid. Second, the aid comprises several board elements of considerable size and weight, which would make transporting the aid to a gym extremely impractical or impossible. For instance, the boards would not likely fit into a duffle bag or backpack, and transporting the aid in multiple bags would be impractical and undesirable for many users, particularly those users who travel by foot, bicycle, or public transportation. Third, use of the weightlifting aid in U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120165163 A1 requires a vertical alignment of the board elements stacked on the user's chest with the vertical path of the barbell during exercise. Because the vertical path of the barbell is necessarily perpendicular to the floor, use of the aid is limited to exercises in which the user's body is in a recumbent position parallel to the floor. Thus, the weightlifting aid disclosed in U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120165163 A1 aid could not be used for exercises performed on an incline or decline bench, as the angled position of the user's chest in relation to the vertical path of the barbell during exercise would prevent the stacked board elements from aligning with the barbell during exercise. This presents a significant limitation for users wishing to perform bench press exercises from a variable range of starting locations on an incline or decline bench.
The present inventor has realized that there is a need for a device which can be used by a weightlifter to perform a range of bench press type exercises at a significant and variable range of heights and angles, which can be used safely and efficiently without the assistance of another person, and which is small, lightweight, and can be easily transported or stored in a small duffle bag.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a weightlifting aid including: a barbell supporting block element and a plurality of barbell contacting arrangements for attaching the block element to a barbell; in which the one or more barbell contacting arrangements are releasably connectable to the barbell; so as to secure the block element to the barbell above the chest of a user, the block element being of adjustable height depending on which side of the block element is attached to the barbell.
In this way, the above described needs can be met. In contrast, the training aid of U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 acts as a stop block for the barbell close to the chest of the user, and does not suggest that a range of beneficial and differing exercises can be performed by providing a taller platform of variable height. In any event, the use of two separate and rather thin spacers as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 are unlikely to prove to be sturdy, certainly at significant clearances from the user's chest, and could easily topple should a heavy weight be rested on them, or if the barbell is lowered at an angle or with a twisting motion. This could cause serious injury to the weightlifter.
The skilled reader will appreciate that the block element of the present invention does not necessarily have a weight bearing impact on the chest area of the user, but rather may be lightly touched to the user's chest before initiating the bench press movement. Further, because the present invention attaches to the barbell rather than to the chest of the user, it easily accommodates multiple users. In contrast, the training aids U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 and U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120165163 A1 each require the user to don a harness apparatus to which boards or spacers must be secured. The harness structure makes these aids impractical and cumbersome for use by multiple persons, such as training partners, as the harness must removed and refitted, and the boards or spacers removed and reinstalled, for each successive user. This time-consuming process may be undesirable for users having limited time for exercise. Such users are likely to prefer the ease and efficiency of the aid of the present invention, which does not involve a harness that must be removed and refitted, or boards or spacers that must be removed and reinstalled.
Further, the aid of the present invention may be used to be perform bench press exercises on an incline or decline bench, as well as on a flat bench. In contrast, the use of aids which require boards or spacers to be stacked on the users chest, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,468 and U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120165163 A1, is limited to exercise performed on a flat bench, in which the user's body is in a recumbent position parallel to the floor. These aids do not allow use on an incline or decline bench, as the angled position of the user's chest in relation to the vertical path of the barbell during exercise would prevent the stacked boards or spacers from aligning with the barbell during exercise.
For these and other reasons, the aid of the present invention provides a significant and much needed improvement over the prior art.